If at first you don't succeed: University team to make second attempt at launching first human-powered helicopter

A university team attempting to make history as the first people ever to fly a human-powered helicopter were stopped in their tracks yesterday.

Engineering students from the University Of Maryland began a very public testing of the helicopter - named Gamera - until a part broke.

They have madeseveral repairs and will try again later today.

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Record breakers? A team of engineers from the University Of Maryland yesterday attempted to make history as the first people ever to fly a human-powered helicopter. They were stopped when a part broke and plan to try again later today

The helicopter was designed with lightweight materials so that it only weighs 210lbs, including the pilot. It is powered by a combination of hand and foot pedalling.

If the craft gets off the ground, the team could capture the world record for human-powered helicopter flight with a female pilot.

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While basic planes without engines have been launched by
humans for decades, no one in the world has yet found a way to make a
pedal-powered helicopter stay in the air for more than a few seconds.

And after two years of gruelling work,
50 engineers from the University of Maryland are set tomorrow to launch
their creation for the first time.

If they succeed in keeping the helicopter off the ground for a minute and manage to get it to rise to a height of three metres, they will win a prestigious award of $250,000 and make history by becoming the first people ever to achieve the feat.

The Sikorsky Prize was established in 1980 by the American Helicopter Society to encourage people to strive to achieve the first controlled flight of a human powered helicopter.

Pilot: Judy Wexler, a biology student, sits beneath the X-shaped frame where she furiously pedals with her hands and feet

Challenge: If the craft - called Gamera - gets off the ground, the team could capture the world record for human-powered helicopter flight with a female pilot

No one has yet won the prize but a Japanese team of engineers has come closest, flying a helicopter in 1994 for 19.46 seconds at a height of eight inches.

It is so difficult to achieve flight with a human-powered helicopter because it does not have a fixed wing, like planes.

By pedalling, pilots can gather enough thrust to overcome the drag holding them back and lift forward into the air. But because helicopters take off by going up, rather than forward, thrust alone is not enough.

Dr Antonio Filipponee, from the UK's University of Manchester, said:
'With the fixed wing, you need essentially to provide the thrust to
overcome the drag, whilst lift is generated by the wings.

'With
the helicopter you've got them both. If you want to go forward... you
have to try lift yourself and the weight of the machine. So the amount
of force you need to create is at least 15 times bigger than the fixed
wing aeroplane. So that's a huge challenge.'

It is so difficult to achieve flight with a human-powered helicopter because it does not have a fixed wing, like planes

Huge: Gamera is 60ft-long and each rotor measures 42ft in diameter

The University of Maryland's helicopter, named Gamera, is a huge 60 foot long and each rotor is 42 feet in diameter.

Despite its size, which stretches across about a third of a football field, the whole model, made from carbon fibre, foam and balsa wood, weighs just 140lbs.

Its pilot is Judy Wexler, 24, a biology student, who sits beneath the X-shaped frame where she furiously pedals with her hands and feet.

She has been chosen because she is light and, as a competitive cyclist, has a very strong power-to-weight ratio.